Abstract
Objective The aim of this study was to understand the factors that ophthalmology trainees consider
in pursuing vitreoretinal surgery (VRS) fellowship training.
Methods This is a prospective observational survey study. Survey invitations were disseminated
to postgraduate year 4 (PGY)-4 ophthalmology residents at Accreditation Council for
Graduate Medical Education-accredited residency programs and surgical retina fellows
at Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology Fellowship Compliance Committee-compliant
fellowship programs in the United States. Survey questions on factors related to VRS
were administered employing a 5-point Likert scale. Responses from ophthalmology residents
pursuing surgical retina were combined with surgical retina fellows' responses and
compared with responses from PGY-4 residents not pursuing vitreoretinal surgery.
Results Eighty-one resident surveys were completed. Forty-three fellow surveys were completed.
Fifty-seven out of eighty-one (70.4%) residents were not pursuing surgical retina,
and a total of 67 trainees (24 residents, 43 fellows) were pursuing surgical retina.
The following factors were associated with pursuing VRS training: male gender (p = 0.031); having performed retina research during residency (p ≤ 0.001); enjoying surgical retina procedures (p ≤ 0.001), enjoying surgical retina patient outcomes (p ≤ 0.001), and working with vitreoretinal surgeons (p ≤ 0.001); finding surgical retina prestigious (p ≤ 0.001); perceiving their residency having a strong record of matching surgical
retina (p = 0.039); liking the potential financial income from surgical retina (p ≤ 0.001); and having vitreoretinal mentors during residency (p = 0.014). A majority of trainees (31/57, 54.4%) not pursuing surgical retina disagreed
or strongly disagreed with enjoying the patient outcomes in surgical retina. A third
of female residents not pursuing surgical retina felt having a female surgical retina
mentor would have made them more likely to pursue the field.
Conclusion Longer retina rotations, encouraging resident participation in retina research, and
increasing mentorship opportunities of female trainees from female retina specialists
may increase resident interest in pursuing surgical retina fellowship.
Keywords
ACGME - surgical retina fellowship - vitreoretinal surgery - female mentorship
